


Red-Eye

by Cade Welentine (cadewelentine)



Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: Airports, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 03:23:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11660595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cadewelentine/pseuds/Cade%20Welentine
Summary: Charlotte hates airports.She knows that for certain.





	Red-Eye

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I'm back with more. This time, it's something for everyone's favorite lesbians from next door: a meet-cute AU.

Charlotte hates airports.

She knows that for certain. But she hates them significantly less at night. At night, there are no crowds. At night, she can’t feel the anxiety of a huge group of travelers. At night, she can hear her own thoughts and doesn’t have to bother with the worries of strangers.

She’s got a red-eye back to New York, and even though she knows there’s no crowds, she can’t shake the habit of getting to the airport two hours early. She breezes through security, buys an overpriced--but duty free!-- bag of fruit snacks and a bottled Starbucks drink, telling herself that they count as breakfast, and still has far too much time to kill. She settles into an uncomfortable armchair near an outlet and begins scrolling through her phone. Out the window, she can see snow starting to fall; she hopes that it won’t affect anything. Unfortunately, she knows that it probably will.

Charlotte busies herself by replying to a few emails while she chews on an orange gummy. It’s mind-numbly boring, but she welcomes the break; she’s had a non-stop weekend in Chicago, bouncing from event to event at a medical conference. She needs to numb her mind for a bit, she thinks.

 _Actually_ , she needs to get _laid_ , but she can’t see that happening anytime in the near future. She hasn’t even been on a date in months, let alone a date that went well enough to end in sex.

“No, no, no, you don’t understand; I _can’t_ wait for the next flight--that’s not for two days! I have to get out there _now_.”

Charlotte looks up from her phone, following the sounds of distress to find a young woman frantically gesturing at the representative behind the desk. She’s got curly blonde hair tied up in a bun and a lithe figure that’s accentuated by curve-hugging jeans and a blue knit sweater.

“Miss,” the woman behind the desk says. “I understand you’re upset, unfortunately, there is nothing I can do about the storms. Everything out there’s at a standstill--no planes in _or_ out.”

“But--” the blonde tries, only to be cut off by the other’s sad shake of her head. The blonde lets out an odd noise--it’s akin to a whimper, but louder and more upset-- and sulks over to the same seating area Charlotte’s planted in. She collapses into a chair with all the dramatic flair of a soap opera star.

Charlotte gets up against her better judgement, and moves to sit beside the blonde woman. She looks like she could use a friend, and hell, so could Charlotte.

“Hey, are you-” Charlotte starts, placing a hand on the blonde’s shoulder. “Are you okay?” The blonde looks up at her, and Charlotte’s breath catches in her throat--this girl is _beautiful_. Her eyes are a startling ice blue, her nose is small and slim, and her lips are covered in too-pink lipstick. However, at the question, the girl bursts into tears.

“No!” She wails. “If I don’t get to Vermont by nine a.m., I’m going to lose my job!”

“Oh.” Charlotte says, because it’s all she can think of.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” The blonde says, sniffling a bit and drying her eyes. “I shouldn’t be falling apart on you like that; we don’t even know each other.” She offers a little half smile after that last bit.

“I’m Charlotte.”

“Cordelia.”

“Can I-can I buy you a drink?”

“It’s two o’clock in the morning!”  
“Hey, it’s five o’clock somewhere.”

Which is how they end up in an airport bar, sipping on fruity cocktails (“It’s like juice!”) and getting far too personal for two strangers who just met in an airport. Cordelia tells Charlotte how she works for a big catering company and travels all over, and how she’s supposed to be overseeing a huge wedding later today, but how that’s apparently not going to happen. Charlotte tells Cordelia how she’s a doctor and doesn’t travel very much at all, and how she’s supposed to be doing her rounds later today, but how that probably won’t happen either.

And then, because Charlotte _always_ gets a little loose-lipped after a couple drinks, they start talking about their love lives. Cordelia’s almost as unlucky in love as Charlotte is, but she actually has time to go on dates. She talks about the last date she went on--how they met online, and while the profile had a girl in all the pictures, the person waiting for her at the bar was an awkward, gangly teenage boy. Charlotte admits that her last date--a blind date set up by a friend--was with a straight woman. That makes them both laugh.

“She was really pretty.” Charlotte says, giggling and taking a sip of her drink.

Cordelia laughs again. “Why are the hot ones always _straight_?”

The intercom crackles to life, interrupting their lamenting. “Flight 375 to New York is now boarding.”

“That’s me.” Charlotte says with a melancholy sigh.

“You’re gonna get to make your rounds, after all.” Cordelia remarks. “You lucky duck.”

“Yeah, I am.” Charlotte says, sliding off her barstool. “It’s been real, Cordelia. Maybe we’ll run into each other in New York someday.”

“Wait,” Cordelia says, grabbing Charlotte’s wrist. “Let me see your phone.” Charlotte hands it over without thinking and watches as Cordelia types something in. When it’s handed back to her, a new contact glows on the screen. Charlotte’s heart skips a beat.

“I-”

Cordelia smiles. “Call me sometime, okay?”

Charlotte just nods dumbly, grinning a little like an idiot. “Okay.”

Admittedly, Charlotte’s exhausted. She hasn’t slept since the night before, but she’s not feeling any of the usual effects. In fact, she’s feeling better than she has in a long time. She just had drinks with a cute girl. She just got a cute girl’s phone number. Things could not be going better for her if she lined them up herself. She boards her flight knowing one thing for certain.

Charlotte _loves_ airports.


End file.
